


Candy and Coercion

by mansikka



Series: Getting Domestic [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family, Fluff, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-07-23 05:57:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16153013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Sam, Eileen, and Claire come to join Cas, Dean, and Christopher celebrate Halloween.





	Candy and Coercion

**Author's Note:**

> Hello :) here is another addition to the Getting Domestic 'verse for Halloween. 
> 
> Thanks go to dmsilvis for the header for this series as well as conspiring with me for ideas to get this written, and also to Wayward_Mom for giving the thing a once over <3

There are skeletons in the windows, cobwebs creeping up their steps, a dozen carved pumpkins out front, and more candy than Dean's sure is going to feed an army of mini witches, zombies, and ghosts when they come calling.

He's made cupcakes decorated with edible bat confetti, and cooked meatballs dressed up to look like mummies and eyeballs. Even Cas has made a kind of alcohol-free cocktail that he's named _Zombie juice_ for its sickly green color that Christopher is _still_ giggling at for what it does to his face and tongue.

This is their second Halloween with Christopher. The first had been tainted by fear of dredging up memories for him with all the mini vampires walking up and down their street for trick or treating, and really the fear of doing anything wrong because their _family_ was still new.

There is no such fear now. Their son, apparently, is just as mischievous and devious with tricks as Dean and Sam ever were when they were kids. Not a morning has gone by without a rubber spider finding its way into their bed first thing in the morning, or either Dean or Cas bracing for an electric shock handshake like they haven't endured it a hundred times before.

Dean can hear him now, the distinctive swoosh of his lightsaber drifting down the stairs as Cas tries to help him get ready, that is no doubt going to be out of battery by the time all of them are ready to go trick or treating after they have dropped this food off at Jessica and Todd's. Dean reaches into the overhead cupboard in the kitchen after sucking a spill of the meatball sauce from his thumb and pulls out another pack of batteries in preparation.

"Dude. _Seriously_?"

Dean spins around at the incredulous tone of Claire's voice, looking her up and down in increasing horror for realizing her costume is practically the same as his.

" _Seriously_?" Dean mimics back at her, drawing himself up to full height to glare. This is his house and his rules. And by rights, the only possible Han Solo hitting the streets of _his neighborhood_ tonight should be _him_ ; even if the gun belt she has is a sweet little number that he half-wishes he'd have seen before buying his own.

"Who drew first?" she teases, and Dean fumbles for the toy gun in his own belt, glaring at her victory dance when she wins.

"I would say, Claire."

Dean turns at the sound of Cas' voice, so indignant that Claire has usurped his Han Solo that he didn't even hear him and Christopher coming down the stairs.

"You're _so_ sleeping on the couch tonight—"

"Can I sleep on the couch with you?" Christopher says excitedly, turning rapidly to look between them both. His eyes are already wide on sugar, and Dean plans on having words with Sam about the candy he's been sneaking him pretty much since the moment they arrived. "We can make a blanket fort and—"

"Nobody is sleeping on the couch, young Jedi," Cas replies, and Dean can't help laughing at the disdain in his voice for those final two words.

Cas has given in. He is completely surrounded by Star Wars fans, unable to escape it wherever he turns. The cheap plastic C3PO mask sat on the dining room table is testament to that, with Cas begrudgingly agreeing to wear it after Christopher had made puppy eyes at him in the store that would rival Sam's.

"Looking good, Bud," Dean says, reaching out to pinch at the thick brown material of Christopher's costume in approval, already dragging his phone across the counter to take a picture.

"I should take a picture of all three of you," Claire says, and Cas turns to her to scowl.

"Yeah, you _should_ ," Dean replies, clasping Cas around the shoulder before nudging him backward and keeping him moving until they're at the table.

"Dean—"

"You promised," Dean teases, picking up the mask and waving it in his hand.

"I was _coerced_."

"What does _coershed_ mean?" Christopher asks, giggling as Cas ducks away from Dean holding the mask up to his face.

"It means," Cas says through gritted teeth, "a person has been talked into doing something that they really don't want to do."

"Like bullying?"

"Yes, Christopher. Exactly like bullying."

"Oh, quit your whining," Dean says, leaning in to kiss him before finally getting the mask up against Cas' face and putting the elastic over his head to secure it in place.

Cas gets him back by squeezing his ass as they turn to face Claire, with Christopher proudly brandishing his bright green lightsaber in front of him as they pose for their pictures. Which Claire insists on taking far too many of just for the disgruntled huffing and puffing Cas is holding back on—that Dean can _feel_ him doing—because he doesn't want to be too miserable in front of Christopher.

"Looking good, Christopher," Sam says as he comes down the stairs carefully gripping on to Eileen's hand as she walks.

"Nice mask, Sammy," Dean calls, smirking at his answering scowl as Sam waves the Chewbacca mask still in his hand.

"Claire. Awesome Solo," Sam says, smirking at Dean's disgruntled clearing of his throat.

"Eileen. You're beautiful," Claire says rushing forward as Eileen straightens up the skirt of her Leia costume, hands up to her hair to check everything is still in place and smiling back.

Eileen is about eighteen weeks pregnant, tired, and according to Sam, alternating between being ravenous or thoroughly disgusted by the thought of food. Though Dean's persuaded her to try some of the meatballs without their Halloween dressings, and Cas has made her a tea to soothe her morning sickness, so she seems to be doing okay at the moment.

"Claire's right. You look exceptional," Cas says as he signs at her, and Eileen's cheeks light up with a proud blush as she signs back.

"You sure you wanna walk around with this walking carpet?" Dean says, stepping out of Sam's reach when he goes to slap at his arm.

Eileen beams up at Sam, half-smitten, and half-full of similar teasing, though tucks into his side in solidarity that makes Claire make puking noises at, which in turn puts Christopher into a fit of giggles.

"Okay, okay, let's take some more pictures," Claire says, a few minutes passing with arrangements of the group including one with all of them taken on Claire's selfie stick.

Dean doesn't like that stick. Claire's been staying with them for a couple of days now, as has become part of their Halloween tradition, and every morning he's come down for breakfast it's to find Claire and Christopher locked in a lightsaber battle with the damn thing. It's no wonder the batteries on Christopher's lightsaber have needed replacing daily since her arrival.

"Alright. So, everyone grab a tray. Not you," Dean adds, wagging his finger at Eileen and stumbling over the ASL to tell her not to. "We need to get these to Jessica's."

"But Dad," Christopher protests, wrapping his arms around Dean's waist to stop him going anywhere, "we can't go yet. No one came to take our candy."

"We're not going yet," Dean tells him, hugging him back and kissing the top of his head. "But we need everything ready for the party when we come back from trick and treating. Right?"

Christopher nods enthusiastically, distracted as Sam produces yet more candy; this time through the nostril of his Chewbacca mask. Which Christopher announces is _gross_ but eats it enthusiastically anyway.

"Christopher can stay with me so we don't miss any trick or treaters," Eileen says, with Christopher silently mouthing along as he follows her ASL, trying to copy it back one-handed for the tight grip he still has on his lightsaber.

"You gonna cover that ugly mug and put that thing on?" Dean says, snagging his finger in Sam's mask still held in his hand, and receiving no sympathy from Cas when Sam finally gets a shove in, in retaliation.

"Hey, Dean. How many people are gonna be at this party?" Claire asks as they start to grab up all the trays from the counter.

So perhaps he got a little carried away. Along with meatballs and cupcakes, there is a dish of spaghetti he's made to look like intestines, and more cookies with ghosts, black cats, and witches than he knows what to do with. They have cheese fingers, and a tray of monster s'mores that he, Cas, and Christopher made just this morning. In fact, there is so much food that they're practically guaranteed to be bringing half of it back home.

Jessica's greeting for them confirms that, her cat-eye contacts flaring when she notices all the food Cas, Dean, Sam, and Claire are holding in their hands. "Dean—"

"We might have got carried away," he says as she swings the door open for them.

"I'll say," Jessica agrees, laughing as she waves towards the tables practically buckling under the weight of Halloween food.

"Mrs. Ferguson?" Dean asks, nodding towards an impressive haunted mansion cake as he slides the trays he's holding on to the table beside it.

"It's too good to eat, right?" Jessica says as she comes to stand beside him, only to step back out of the way so Claire can take a picture.

"It's awesome."

"So. Where are Hannah and Kate?" Dean asks, scanning the room for the twin girls.

"Upstairs with Todd," Jessica says, looking exasperated. "They're dressing as fairies, and apparently Todd does way better glitter in their hair than I do."

"You sure you don't want us to take them with us?" Dean offers, even though Jessica has already turned them down.

"No, it's fine. I can't face a night of no sleep because of a sugar high _and_ nightmares because of zombies," Jessica replies with a groan. Her girls are not fans of much of anything to do with Halloween aside from the food.

"Okay, well. We'd best get back. See you in an hour or so maybe?"

"We'll be here. I can't guarantee we won't have started eating without you though," Jessica adds with a strained laugh for looking at their excess of food.

"Are we seriously gonna get through all of that?" Sam asks, muffled for speaking through his mask, that is going to be a disaster because he can barely see where he's walking.

"Whole street's coming," Dean tells him, grabbing out to keep Sam steady as he almost trips over his own feet.

"Along with Josh and Simon, and some of the other residents in the neighboring streets," Cas adds, nudging against Dean's arm to get his attention.

Dean turns and catches his wink, the deliberate gaze he's lingering over his costume, and there is a heat of promise in his eyes that leaves Dean's pants far tighter than they ought to be in current company. Which Cas doesn't help at all, by discreetly squeezing his ass after checking either side of them that nobody is watching.

"Well. If Christopher gets tired, Eileen and I will happily take him home so you can stay out a while," Sam offers, cursing under his breath as he trips up yet again.

"You need to work on your Chewie, okay, Sammy?" Dean teases, and the indignant roar he receives in answer leaves him throwing his head back in laughter.

"Thank you, Sam," Cas says on his behalf.

"I don't think Eileen will be wanting to stay all that late anyway," Sam adds, "she's been asleep by nine most nights for the past two weeks. Fell asleep on the drive over, too."

"I keep telling you that crappy music you listen to is enough to send anyone to sleep."

"Are you done?"

"Oh, I'm not even started," Dean retorts, ducking when Sam snatches at him and misses.

"I'll bet this is just like old times for you, huh, Cas?" Claire says as she comes to walk by his side, and when Dean peeks to look she's looped her arm through his.

"If you mean the juvenile comments, inane taunting, and constant _tussling_ ever since Sam and Eileen's arrival, then, yes," Cas retorts, "it is very much _like old times_."

Dean snatches Cas' hand up mid air quote to kiss the back of before slotting it through his own. "You love it really."

"I love _you_ ," Cas retorts, his tone put-upon even though he is smiling, though his grumbles disappear the moment Dean leans in to kiss him.

"Kinda a good job, right, Cas?" Dean says, smiling as he watches their front door swing open and their mini Jedi of a son come rushing down the steps towards them, cape flowing out behind him.

"Yes," Cas agrees, nudging into his side seconds before Christopher is chattering at them both excitedly about the few trick or treaters who have already visited, "it is."

* * *

"I don't envy you trying to sleep for the next few _weeks_."

Dean groans at Sam's words muffled through his Chewie mask watching Eileen hold on to Christopher's already-full first cauldron, and thinks he might be right.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that. Though I might just go hide in our cat shed when Cas tries to tell him he's only allowed one candy at a time. Or a day, or something."

"Might be a good idea," Sam agrees, laughing, doing the best thumbs-up he can manage in his costume when Christopher turns around to wave yet another handful of candy before dropping it into the second cauldron looped over his arm.

"You think Eileen's okay?" Dean asks, wincing as he watches Christopher grab her free hand to tug her along.

"I'm sure she is," Sam agrees, and even with his mask on Dean can picture the constant look of concern that is on his face of late. Dean thinks it might be a permanent feature until their kid is at least twenty-one, knowing from conversations he and Sam have had already that the two of them are adamant they're giving their kids the lives _they_ never had.

"You sure _Cas_ is okay?" Sam adds as he bursts out laughing, and the two of them turn to watch Cas and Claire walking a few feet ahead. Somehow, with persuasive skills Dean _needs_ to learn from her, Claire has convinced Cas to don not only the C3PO mask he's currently wearing, but also a huge pair of white feathery wings that hang all the way down his back. He's clutching a wand in one hand that catches in the streetlight for all the glitter covering it, and the other is waving away Claire's attempt to drape a bright orange snake around his neck.

"Is she just… taking those things off people she's passing?" Sam asks, laughing as that is confirmed when Claire snags a cowboy hat from a guy walking in the other direction, winking when he turns around to protest.

"Apparently," Dean replies, snorting when Claire tosses the orange snake at the guy still waiting for his hat back, who turns and shrugs, draping the thing across his shoulders like a feather boa, sauntering away from them with a distinct sway in his step.

" _Dad_."

Dean looks as Christopher calls out, catching him in his arms when he runs towards him at full speed to be picked up, and adjusting him on his hip when he stops wriggling.

"You okay, Buddy?"

" _Look_ ," Christopher points, drawing Dean's attention to the Mackay's place, where their theme for Halloween just seems to be _overkill_.

It looks as though the house has been neglected for about a hundred years. It is dark, and dingy, with cobwebs draped in the windows and skeletons half-climbing out of the ground. There is an ominous roaring sound on repeat that is so deep it's echoing beneath their feet, with moving corpses half-hanging across the sidewalk that are motion-sensored to twitch, tripping up anyone that crosses their paths. It's taken a lot of work, and Dean thinks it looks like something more out of a movie set instead of someone's home. There are kids being led away in tears for some of the scenery, and even several adults are giving the house a wide berth.

Dean catches the look on Cas' face as he observes all the people doing their best to avoid the house, and imagines there will be stern words for the Mackays the next time Cas sees them. Dean smiles as Cas walks towards them, watching as he ducks to check Christopher's face to make sure he's okay. Then squeezes his hand when he slots it through his own to fall into step between him and Sam, with Claire looping an arm through Eileen's a little way ahead.

"Do you think everyone has taken all our candy already?" Christopher asks, making himself a deadweight in Dean's arms so he can unwrap a candy to pop into Dean's mouth.

"Maybe," Dean replies, grimacing at the sour lemon flavor that is now flooding his mouth.

"I got enough candy for a _year_ ," Christopher adds, brandishing the cauldron still hung over his arm as he waves ahead to Eileen.

"Perhaps a hundred years," Cas tells him as he opens his mouth to accept his unwrapped candy.

"That's just 'cos you don't want all my _teeth_ to fall out."

"If you have no teeth, how will you eat your father's pie that you like so much?" Cas asks, with Dean catching Sam's eye behind Christopher's back, laughing at his red face as he takes off his mask.

 _"It's too hot,"_ he mouths at him, forearm up to wipe his brow, as Christopher makes humming noises and wriggles to be let down.

"Okay," Christopher says then, slotting himself between Dean and Sam, "I promise I'll brush my teeth real good tonight so the fairies can't steal 'em."

Sam snorts with laughter, affectionately patting his head, the three of them watching as he runs off again to catch up with Claire and Eileen.

* * *

By the time they arrive at Jessica and Todd's, Dean is carrying both of Christopher's candy-laden cauldrons, and Sam is carrying Christopher on his shoulders, who is whooping with delight for _being so tall_. Cas' wings are drooping to the right, his C3PO mask strung by one end of its elastic over his shoulder, tied to a buttonhole in his shirt.

Eileen sits the moment they walk into the house with an obvious huff of relief, waving away Sam's concern even before he can open his mouth. Though she gulps back the water he gets her immediately in seconds, and looks to the table still half-covered with food in interest enough to stand and grab a plate.

"How'd it go?" Jessica asks as she joins them carrying a tray of red cups that she holds high out of the reach of small hands. There are various children from their neighborhood running back and forth showing their candy hauls, as poor Albus darts between them hoping for something to fall from their grasp.

"It was good," Dean says, gratefully accepting the cup of beer. "Think we hit every house."

"What's this I hear about the Mackay's house of horror thing they got going on?" Todd asks as he comes to join them, accepting a cup as he wraps his arm around Jessica's waist.

"It is an abomination," Cas retorts. Dean makes eyes at Jessica, nodding away to let her know they should leave the two of them to it, screwing up his face at Cas' loud _abhorrent distasteful outrage_ that he hears before he's even two foot away.

"That bad, huh?" Jessica asks when they come to a stop and Dean's waved at Josh and Simon from across the room, thumbs up for their Thor and Loki outfits and briefly wondering when Josh got so tall.

"Seriously. Saw at least a couple of kids look like they were gonna puke."

"Half the people here are talking about making complaints," Jessica says, nodding to the room behind them. "Must be pretty bad."

"They do have to be one better than everyone else around here."

"Yeah," Jessica huffs, "well. Maybe this'll be the thing that makes them _stop_."

There are some incredible costumes here tonight, Dean thinks as Jessica leaves him to fix the wing on Hannah's costume that she's managed to snap off. Karen and Robert are here as Gamora and Star-Lord, and Tessa Peterson he thinks is a character from Adventure Time.

The Fergusons look incredible in the corner of the conservatory holding court as some kind of elven royalty, and even Carl has convinced a reluctant Greg to dress up for the night. Though, unlike Dean had maybe been expecting when Greg came over to mournfully moan about being talked into it, there isn't a Star Wars outfit between them. The two of them instead are dressed as two characters from What We Do In The Shadows who Dean can't remember the names of, but can't stop smiling for seeing, laughing at the two of them as they tuck into cake pops made to look like stakes.

When he's raised his cup and called across to Greg to salute them, he turns to see Christopher is on a rug in the middle of the floor with Hannah and Kate, showing them the contents of his cauldrons. And, Dean realizes, with a lump in his throat, is sharing the candy out between the three of them. He catches Cas' attention before he's grabbed by Claire so he too can smile in affection at their son, then laughs as Claire tugs his arm impatiently and drags Cas across the room.

He even thinks to follow them, draining the last of his drink and looking out for Jessica first to see if she still has her tray. But when he can't see her and begins making his way around a group of witches and warlocks gossiping, he too is grabbed by the arm and led away.

"I have something very important to show you," Robert says in a staged whisper, towing him towards the table.

"What?"

" _Look_ ," Robert insists, nodding at the various trays of food.

"What am I looking at?" Dean asks, though secretly pleased that all the dishes _he_ prepared seem to have gone down well, because there is barely anything of them left.

"Are you _serious_?" Robert says with an arch to his voice, pointing vigorously to the round of brie on the table, still oozing cheese from its middle to reveal how fresh from the oven it must be.

Dean laughs, handing him one of the flaky pastry finger things that are next to it and dipping it in. Robert is of the thought that nothing in this world can't be improved somehow with cheese, and the satisfied noises he is making as he eats has Dean grinning to himself, discreetly checking around them to see if anyone else can hear.

He finds Cas a little later outside in the garden, sneaking Albus a bit of sausage that he quickly tries to hide.

"Oh. It's you," he says, looking less shifty as he straightens up.

"Yeah," Dean huffs, "only the love of your life and all that, no one _important_."

"And when we are home alone later, I will _show_ you just how important you are to me," Cas retorts, deliberately giving Dean the once over until he's squirming under the heat of it.

"Uh. Well, _good_ —"

"I think Albus might have been snuck numerous items of food from the table that he possibly shouldn't have been."

"So," Dean says, wrapping Cas up in his arms from behind so he can pull him against his chest and get a kiss to his shoulder. "Basically, Cas, you don't wanna be the one caught feeding him if he pukes everywhere."

"Essentially, yes."

"Good call."

"Todd gave him a piece of deviled egg covered in paprika earlier. If _anything_ is going to—"

"Albus is gonna be farting all night. Gas the place," Dean says, laughing into his shoulder.

"Most likely."

"You see Christopher handing out his candy in there?"

"Did _you_ see the… _parcel_ of candy Jessica and Todd made up for him?" Cas replies, dropping his head back against Dean's and squeezing his hands over his arms.

"Altruism really doesn't exist, huh, Cas?"

"Not when there is candy involved."

Dean nuzzles behind his ear and sways Cas in his arms, overlooking the yard dotted with fairy lights that shimmer in the dark.

"Do you think _Jack_ might be attending a Halloween event somewhere?" Cas asks after a quiet moment that Dean thinks means he's been thinking of him a while.

"I hope so. At least, I hope he's out there doing something fun."

"I wish he would—"

"Cas," Dean says, pressing a hard kiss to the side of his head, "we're here if he needs us. We can't _do_ anything else. We're not… we're here, okay?"

Cas sighs, only nodding in answer. Dean isn't sure what else to say, but is determined to lift his mood.

"You want another beer or something? Maybe some cake?"

"I think I have consumed enough sugar this evening to sustain me for several months."

"Well—"

"Though Robert's _brie_ does sound good."

"Brie it is," Dean agrees, kissing his shoulder again before he's stepping back and taking Cas' hand, leading him back inside.

* * *

Eileen gets tired after another hour, with Sam offering to take Christopher back with them, but Dean not wanting to inflict Christopher's sugar high on the pair of them in case it puts them off parenting for good.

"Need to let him run around for a while longer 'til he calms down," Dean says, raising an eyebrow at Christopher as he chases Moon beneath the table.

"Moon is… Jessica's new dog. Right?" Sam asks, and he has every reason to be confused. Albus is still in the garden, and several of the other neighbors have brought their dogs. This party should be its own house of horrors, with kids and dogs and too much sugar around, yet the mood is pretty calm. Even if the place looks like a small hurricane has passed through it and Dean thinks Jessica and Todd will be finding bits of Halloween paraphernalia for weeks.

"We need a dog," Eileen says in between yawning, absently rubbing her stomach as she leans into Sam's side.

"Yeah. Maybe not right now though, huh?" Dean says, thinking of Sam and Eileen surrounded by puppies with a newborn and shuddering for the chaos of it.

"I'm surprised Christopher hasn't talked _you_ into getting a dog yet," Sam replies, squeezing his arm around Eileen as she apologizes for yawning again.

"Well. Don't think he isn't trying from time to time. But between Albus, and Moon, and Frohike—and practically every cat on our street from one of Cas' litters—it's not like we're ever without some kinda pet."

"True."

"Go to bed," Dean insists when Eileen is yawning yet again, waving them off and watching as they leave.

"Woah. _Woah_ ," Dean says, catching Christopher as he charges past him, lightly squeezing around his shoulders to keep him still. "Where are you going now?"

"The bathroom," Christopher giggles, breathless from taunting the poor dogs that are making their escape as Dean keeps his attention.

"Maybe just walk there then, huh, Christopher? You don't wanna crash into anyone, right?"

"Okay," Christopher says, completely oblivious, because after three deliberately careful steps walking away from him, he's yelling and charging after Hannah who says she's using the bathroom first.

"Happy Halloween, Dean," Jessica says, laughing as she comes to stand beside him, handing him another beer as they watch Christopher and Hannah run. "May we all get _some_ sleep tonight after all this candy they ate."

"I'll drink to that," Dean agrees, knocking his beer cup against Jessica's, and winking at Cas from across the room.

* * *

 


End file.
